Friday, April 22, 2016

April 22, 2016 - EARTH - You may not have noticed, but our planet is becoming increasingly
unstable. According to Volcano Discovery, 40 volcanoes around the globe
are erupting right now, and only 6 of them are not along the Ring of
Fire. If that sounds like a very high number to you, that is because it
is a very high number. As I have written about previously, there
were a total of 3,542 volcanic eruptions during the entire 20th
century. When you divide that number by 100, that gives you an average
of about 35 volcanic eruptions per year. So the number of volcanoes
that are erupting right now is well above the 20th century's average for
an entire calendar year.And of course we are
witnessing a tremendous amount of earthquake activity as well. Nepal
was just hit by the worst earthquake that it had seen in 80 years, and
scientists are telling us that the Himalayas actually dropped by an
astounding 3 feet as a result of that one earthquake. How much more
does our planet have to shake before people start paying attention?

Of
course the things that we have been seeing lately are part of a much
larger long-term trend. Seismic activity appears to have been getting
stronger over the past few decades, and now things really seem to be
accelerating. The following is how one news source recently summarized what we have been witnessing...

If it seems like earthquakes and erupting volcanoes are happening more frequently, that's because they are. Looking
at global magnitude six (M6) or greater from 1980 to 1989 there was an
average of 108.5 earthquakes per year, from 2000 to 2009 the planet
averaged 160.9 earthquakes per year: that is a 38.9% increase of M6+
earthquakes in recent years. Unrest also seems to be growing among the
world's super-volcanoes. Iceland (which is home to some of the most
dangerous volcanoes on the planet), Santorini in Greece, Uturuncu in
Bolivia, the Yellowstone and Long Valley calderas in the U.S., Laguna
del Maule in Chile, Italy's Campi Flegrei - almost all of the world's
active super-volcanic systems are now exhibiting some signs of
inflation, an early indication that pressure is building in these
volcanic systems.

But of course most Americans are never going to care about any of this until it starts affecting them personally.

Well, perhaps they should start paying attention to the warning signs.
In recent weeks we have seen significant earthquakes in Michigan, Texas,
Mississippi, California, Idaho And Washington. In addition, it is
being reported that pressure is building in dormant volcanoes in Arizona
and California. Just because we have not had a killer earthquake or a
large volcanic eruption in the U.S. in recent years does not mean that
it will always be that way. Right now the entire planet appears to be waking up, and this especially seems to be true of the Ring of Fire.

Volcano activity

If
you are not familiar with the Ring of Fire, just imagine a giant ring
that runs around the outer perimeter of the Pacific Ocean.
Approximately 90 percent of all earthquakes and approximately 75 percent
of all volcanic eruptions occur within this area, and the entire west
coast of North America is considered to be part of the Ring of Fire.

For so long, the west coast has been incredibly blessed not to have
experienced a major seismic event. But scientists tell us that it is
only a matter of time.

And right now, just about every other part of the Ring of Fire is shaking violently.

For example, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake just hit Japan on Wednesday...
A magnitude-6.8 earthquake that shook northeast Japan on Wednesday was
an aftershock of the devastating 2011 quake that triggered a massive
tsunami and nuclear power plant meltdown.

"We consider this morning's earthquake to be an aftershock of the 2011
Northeastern Pacific Earthquake," said Yohei Hasegawa, an official at
the Japanese meteorological agency.

The temblor, which struck just after 6 a.m. local time (5 p.m. ET
Tuesday), was sparked by the Pacific tectonic plate "subducting," or
moving under, the main land plate, he added.

Hasegawa warned that more tremors may be on the way.

One Japanese expert is warning that Japan "might have entered an era of
great earthquakes and volcanic eruptions", and considering the immense
devastation that the great earthquake and tsunami of 2011 caused, that
is a very sobering assessment.

Meanwhile, a series of very strong earthquakes have struck Papua New Guinea recently as well. The following comes from the Washington Post...

A powerful earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the fourth
strong quake to hit the South Pacific island nation in a week. The
temblor prompted officials to issue a local tsunami warning, but it was
lifted shortly afterward with no reports of damage.

The 7.1-magnitude quake struck about 150 kilometers (94 miles) southwest
of the town of Panguna on Bougainville Island at a depth of 23
kilometers (14 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Once again, just because things have always been a certain way does not mean that they will always be that way.

As Americans, we are not accustomed to being concerned about major
earthquakes and massive volcanic eruptions, but that could soon change
in a big way.

The truth is that our planet and our sun are changing in ways that are
unpredictable and that our scientists don't completely understand.

For example, a recent LiveScience article discussed the fact that
scientists are deeply puzzled by the fact that the magnetic field of our
planet is getting weaker 10 times faster than previously believed...

Scientists already know that magnetic north shifts. Once every few
hundred thousand years the magnetic poles flip so that a compass would
point south instead of north. While changes in magnetic field strength
are part of this normal flipping cycle, data from Swarm have shown the
field is starting to weaken faster than in the past. Previously,
researchers estimated the field was weakening about 5 percent per
century,but the new data revealed the field is actually weakening at 5 percent per decade, or 10 times faster than thought.

As such, rather than the full flip occurring in about 2,000 years, as
was predicted, the new data suggest it could happen sooner.

And in a previous article, I discussed how one scientist has discovered
that activity on the sun is declining at a faster pace "than at any time
in the last 9300 years" right now.

I don't pretend to have all the answers for why these things are
happening, but clearly some very unusual things are taking place.

So what do you think?

Do you believe that you know why our planet and our sun are experiencing such dramatic changes?

April 22, 2016 - NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES - If you've been out and about enjoying this beautiful spring day in Ocean
County and happened to look up, you may have noticed the distinct rings
around the sun.

So what are they?

We wanted to find out!

While it's nice and warm here on the ground at the Jersey Shore, the
upper atmosphere is pretty cold. Cold enough for there to be ice
crystals up there.

On a day like today, the conditions are just right to refract the Sun's
rays through the ice crystals, causing the halo effect.

Over 10,000 remain displaced by floods as further heavy rainfall hits Uruguay

Over 10,000 people remain displaced by flooding currently affecting all 19 departments of Uruguay.

At least 10 people have died as a result of severe weather in
the country in the last 10 days. Five people died after a tornado hit
the town of Dolores. A further five victims have drowned in floods.

Yet more heavy rainfall over the last 2 days is likely to prevent people from returning to their homes for the next few days.

However, emergency authorities in Uruguay say the situation is under
control and victims are being provided with food and health care.

According to the latest reports from Uruguay emergency authorities ( Sistema Nacional de Emergencias - SINAE),10,097 people remain displaced by the flooding that has affected the country since 15 April 2016.

SINAE say thatroads and highways have been blocked in over 30 locations.The
departments with the highest numbers of displaced are Artigas (639),
Colonia (1,650), Durazno (2,179), Paysandú (1,411), San José (1,250) and
Treinta y Tres (1,695). Although areas around Montevideo have been
affected, SINAE say that no evacuations have taken place in the capital.

Montevideo Portal

Floodwater in Rocha, Uruguay. Melissa

The Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Institudo Uruguayo de
Meteorología, INUMET) issued further orange level (level 3 of 4)
rainfall warnings on 20 April.During the following 24 hours, at
least 10 locations reported over 80 mm of rain. After a short respite,
further heavy rain is expected from Saturday 23 April.

Despite the further heavy rainfall, SINAE say that the situation is
under control in all affected areas. Relevant government departments and
agencies are working together to ensure the health and safety of those
displaced, and to provide technical support and food items.
Rainfall figures

When the severe weather first struck, as much as 180 mm in 24
hours was observed in Rocha, in the east of Uruguay, on the 16 April
2016. The same day 150 mm of rain in 24 hours was recorded at the San
José station and 140 mm in Florida, both of them in the south of the
country.

Rain forecast for Uruguay 23 to 24 April 2016. INUMET

Significant rain was also observed on Sunday 17 April 2016, with 121.5
mm in 24 hours recorded at Pasos de los Toros station in Tacuarembó
Department, in central Uruguay.

The recent flood situation in Luanda, Angola,
appears to have worsened and the latest report from the National
Service for Civil Protection and Fire (SNPCB) says that at least 19
people have died, 50 injured and four are reported as missing. Figures
are from preliminary damage assessments and authorities warned that
these numbers could increase.

The floods come just a the World
Health Organisation has confirmed that Angola is currently experiencing a
major outbreak of yellow fever, a disease spread by mosquitoes. Over
230 people have died since December 2015 in Angola, with 165 of the
deaths in Luanda alone.

The
World Health Organisation reports that Angola is currently suffering
from one of the worst outbreaks of yellow fever in decades. The recent
flooding may well create further breeding grounds for mosquitoes which
spread the disease.

“As
of 7 April 2016, a total of 1,708 suspected cases, including 238 deaths
(CFR: 13.9%), had been reported from 16 of the country’s 18 provinces.
Luanda remains the most affected province with 1,135 cases (405
confirmed), including 165 deaths (CFR: 14. 5%). The other most affected
provinces are Huambo (266 suspected cases, 37 deaths), Huila (95
suspected cases, 16 deaths) and Benguela (51 suspected cases, 0 deaths).
Between 6 and 7 April, 30 new suspected cases, including 4 deaths, were
reported across the country – 19 of these suspected cases and 2 of the
reported deaths came from Luanda.”

About Yellow Fever
Yellow
fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected
aedes and haemogogus mosquitoes. The “yellow” in the name refers to the
jaundice that affects some patients. Up to 50% of severely affected
persons without treatment will die from yellow fever.

According to
WHO, yellow fever can be prevented through vaccination and mosquito
control. The yellow fever vaccine is safe and affordable, and a single
dose provides life-long immunity against the disease.

Mosquito
control can also help to prevent yellow fever, and is vital in
situations where vaccination coverage is low or the vaccine is not
immediately available. Mosquito control includes eliminating sites where
mosquitoes can breed, and killing adult mosquitoes and larvae by using
insecticides in areas with high mosquito density. Community involvement
through activities such as cleaning household drains and covering water
containers where mosquitoes can breed is a very important and effective
way to control mosquitoes.

April 22, 2016 - CHINA - A 'dust devil' whirlwind has terrified a bunch of schoolkids in China, when it ripped through a sports event. One of the students got thrown into the air and injured.Three little twisters tore through a sports field at Yuanquan Primary School, in northern Gansu province. The whole thing got captured on video.

Kids can be heard screaming in terror, as the twisters rip through the place, and objects are thrown in the air.

The children are trying to lie on the ground to avoid being hurt by the terrifying whirlwind.

"We brought the short and thin children together to lie on the ground," one of the school's teachers, Fang Fang, told CCTV.

A boy is hurled into the sky, as shown in a picture taken by one of the witnesses of the "dust devil" madness.

WATCH: "Dust Devil" in Gansu, China.

"[The twister] was at least 3 meters high. I rushed to him and tried to
catch him. But just in two or three seconds, the student fell to the
ground," said Tong Ruiyang, a policeman at the Guazhou Public Security
Bureau.

According to other estimates, the whirlwinds were up to 40 meters high.

The student suffered minor head injuries and was taken to the hospital.

"We immediately started to evacuate the students. But in a very short
time, the second round of the dust devil arrived," Fang told CCTV, as
cited by NBC News.

Dolphins were found stranded and dead on a shore in Panama. AUTORIDAD DE LOS RECURSOS ACUATICOS DE PANAMA/CNN

April 22, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes the latest reports of unusual and symbolic animal behavior, mass die-offs, beaching and stranding of mammals, and the appearance of rare creatures.

10 dolphins die after stranding of 50 on beach in Panama

In Panama, 10 dolphins were found dead on a beach this Wednesday after a group of approximately 50 were stranded on the shore.

Residents of Cambutal village, in the province of Los Santos, alerted
authorities about the presence of the dolphins stranded on the shore of
the Ostional Beach.

Twenty-five dolphins were returned to the sea in stable condition, while
others are receiving treatment by environmental authorities,
representatives of the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama, and the
environment ministry.

The species were identified as bottlenose dolphins, the most common in the region.

Mass fish deaths investigated in Vietnam

A villager shows dead sea fish he collected on a beach in Phu Loc district, in the central province of Thua Thien Hue. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Vietnam said on Thursday it was investigating whether pollution is to blame for a spate of mysterious mass fish deaths along the country's central coast after huge amounts of marine life washed ashore in recent days.

Tonnes of fish, including rare species which live far offshore and in the deep, have been discovered on beaches along the country's central coastal provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Hue.
"We have never seen anything like it," aquaculture official Nhu Van Can told AFP on Thursday.

The strange situation first came to light when farmed fish in the area
began dying in great numbers, he said, with locals later discovering
huge numbers of dead fish on beaches.

Local fishermen told state-run media that they are burying hundreds of kilograms of fish everyday.

"If you sail just three miles offshore, you can see dead
fish all over the ocean floor," the state-run Tuoi Tre quoted local
fishermen as saying.

Signs point to the fish having been poisoned by "unidentified
substances," Tran Dinh Du, deputy director of agriculture in Quang Binh
province, said, according to the report.

"We have asked people not to eat the fish and not use the fish as food for their livestock," Du added.

State news outlet Thanh Nien quoted worried locals saying they dared not
eat any of the washed up fish, adding in their report that "all signs
(are) pointing to an environmental disaster."

Central Ha Tinh province is home to a sprawling economic zone which
houses numerous industrial plants, including a multi-billion dollar
steel plant run by Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa.

Hanoi has dispatched teams of environmental experts and officials to
investigate the phenomenon, the Ministry of Environment said in a
statement posted online.

"We must quickly establish whether the fish have died because of
environmental pollution," environment minister, Tran Hong Ha said in the
report.

Vietnam has a long coastline and much of the country's export income
depends on seafood, including farmed shrimp, catfish and wild-caught
tuna.

April 22, 2016 - ECUADOR - A 6.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Ecuador,
the US Geological Survey (USGS) has reported.

The new tremblor
comes just days after a devastating 7.8 quake killed at least 587 people
in the South American country and amid internationally-assisted
recovery efforts.

The earthquake was centered some 33.0
kilometers (20.5 miles) north-northwest of Bahia de Caraquez and some
100 kilometers (62 miles) from the city of Portoviejo. It hit at a depth
of 10 kilometers.

USGS shakemap intensity.

The latest tremblor came just days after a strong 7.8 magnitude quake hit the country on Saturday, whose death toll has already climbed to over 580 victims, the government reported on Thursday. With 155 people still unaccounted for, the death toll is expected to rise even further, however.

Soldiers stand guard next to a collapsed buildings at the village of
Manta, after an earthquake struck off Ecuador's Pacific coast, April 21,
2016.
Henry Romero / Reuters

The damage to the country’s infrastructure appears unprecedented, with over 23,500 people left without homes. The quake was followed by two aftershocks of 6.1 and 6.3 magnitudes. The country’s president, Rafael Correa, said that the damages inflicted by the disaster are estimated at a staggering $3 billion.

He has consequently announced plans to raise taxes in order to rebuild the affected areas.Correa said on Twitter that three aftershocks were registered on Thursday night, two of which were “fairly strong.” He called on residents to “keep calm”.

“We should expect about ten aftershocks of that magnitude,” he added.Russia’s Emergency Ministry has sent an airplane carrying 30 tons of humanitarian aid to Ecuador, including food, tents, and mobile electric stations on order of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

USGS Seismotectonics of South America (Nazca Plate Region)

The
South American arc extends over 7,000 km, from the Chilean margin
triple junction offshore of southern Chile to its intersection with the
Panama fracture zone, offshore of the southern coast of Panama in
Central America. It marks the plate boundary between the subducting
Nazca plate and the South America plate, where the oceanic crust and
lithosphere of the Nazca plate begin their descent into the mantle
beneath South America. The convergence associated with this subduction
process is responsible for the uplift of the Andes Mountains, and for
the active volcanic chain present along much of this deformation front.
Relative to a fixed South America plate, the Nazca plate moves slightly
north of eastwards at a rate varying from approximately 80 mm/yr in the
south to approximately 65 mm/yr in the north. Although the rate of
subduction varies little along the entire arc, there are complex changes
in the geologic processes along the subduction zone that dramatically
influence volcanic activity, crustal deformation, earthquake generation
and occurrence all along the western edge of South America.

Most
of the large earthquakes in South America are constrained to shallow
depths of 0 to 70 km resulting from both crustal and interplate
deformation. Crustal earthquakes result from deformation and mountain
building in the overriding South America plate and generate earthquakes
as deep as approximately 50 km. Interplate earthquakes occur due to slip
along the dipping interface between the Nazca and the South American
plates. Interplate earthquakes in this region are frequent and often
large, and occur between the depths of approximately 10 and 60 km. Since
1900, numerous magnitude 8 or larger earthquakes have occurred on this
subduction zone interface that were followed by devastating tsunamis,
including the 1960 M9.5 earthquake in southern Chile, the largest
instrumentally recorded earthquake in the world. Other notable shallow
tsunami-generating earthquakes include the 1906 M8.5 earthquake near
Esmeraldas, Ecuador, the 1922 M8.5 earthquake near Coquimbo, Chile, the
2001 M8.4 Arequipa, Peru earthquake, the 2007 M8.0 earthquake near
Pisco, Peru, and the 2010 M8.8 Maule, Chile earthquake located just
north of the 1960 event.

USGS plate tectonics for the region.

Large
intermediate-depth earthquakes (those occurring between depths of
approximately 70 and 300 km) are relatively limited in size and spatial
extent in South America, and occur within the Nazca plate as a result of
internal deformation within the subducting plate. These earthquakes
generally cluster beneath northern Chile and southwestern Bolivia, and
to a lesser extent beneath northern Peru and southern Ecuador, with
depths between 110 and 130 km. Most of these earthquakes occur adjacent
to the bend in the coastline between Peru and Chile. The most recent
large intermediate-depth earthquake in this region was the 2005 M7.8
Tarapaca, Chile earthquake.

Earthquakes can also be
generated to depths greater than 600 km as a result of continued
internal deformation of the subducting Nazca plate. Deep-focus
earthquakes in South America are not observed from a depth range of
approximately 300 to 500 km. Instead, deep earthquakes in this region
occur at depths of 500 to 650 km and are concentrated into two zones:
one that runs beneath the Peru-Brazil border and another that extends
from central Bolivia to central Argentina. These earthquakes generally
do not exhibit large magnitudes. An exception to this was the 1994
Bolivian earthquake in northwestern Bolivia. This M8.2 earthquake
occurred at a depth of 631 km, making it the largest deep-focus
earthquake instrumentally recorded, and was felt widely throughout South
and North America.

Subduction of the Nazca plate is
geometrically complex and impacts the geology and seismicity of the
western edge of South America. The intermediate-depth regions of the
subducting Nazca plate can be segmented into five sections based on
their angle of subduction beneath the South America plate. Three
segments are characterized by steeply dipping subduction; the other two
by near-horizontal subduction. The Nazca plate beneath northern Ecuador,
southern Peru to northern Chile, and southern Chile descend into the
mantle at angles of 25° to 30°. In contrast, the slab beneath southern
Ecuador to central Peru, and under central Chile, is subducting at a
shallow angle of approximately 10° or less. In these regions of
“flat-slab” subduction, the Nazca plate moves horizontally for several
hundred kilometers before continuing its descent into the mantle, and is
shadowed by an extended zone of crustal seismicity in the overlying
South America plate. Although the South America plate exhibits a chain
of active volcanism resulting from the subduction and partial melting of
the Nazca oceanic lithosphere along most of the arc, these regions of
inferred shallow subduction correlate with an absence of volcanic
activity. -

April 22, 2016 - VERACRUZ, MEXICO - Two rivers in the mountains of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz have started to dry up following the appearance of sinkholes,bringing to three the number of rivers in the region that have drained
into the subsoil in less than two months, officials said.

Residents and officials said the flow of the Tliapa and Tlacuapa rivers has been reduced by half, with the water streaming into sinkholes.

Before / After. Segments of the River Atoyac are completely dry.

The rivers start in the mountain cities of Chocaman and Calcahualco, and
flow into the Seco River in Cordoba, a city in central Veracruz.

Residents of the community of Tecolotla told officials that the first
sinkhole formed in a place called Puente de Piedra, where water from one
of the rivers began draining into the subsoil.

WATCH: Major geological upheaval in Veracruz.

A second sinkhole appeared about one kilometer (0.62 miles) downriver, beyond where the two rivers join, residents said.

"The Tliapa and Tlacuapa rivers have now reduced their flow by up to 50 percent," Tomatlan emergency management chief Tobias Carrillo Morales said.
- Latin American Herald Tribune.